AK 1005 Austral Rainbow

AK 1005 (T-AK 2046) Austral Rainbow, was [apparently until mid-1998] one of three ships currently under charter to support the U.S. Air
Force's ammunition prepositioning mission. Austral Rainbow is a LASH, or lighter aboard
ship, vessel built in 1972. It is 820 feet long, 100 feet wide and has a deadweight tonnage of
41,000 long tons. In its current configuration, Austral Rainbow can carry up to 100 20-foot
containers, 74 LASH barges and two pusher boats. The two pusher boats are used to move
barges which have been unloaded into the water. Each barge can carry as much as 250 long
tons of cargo. The ship sails at a speed of 16 knots. Austral Rainbow is currently
prepositioned in Diego Garcia.